Big Mama

I have noticed lately when looking back through photos of myself during my pregnancy that I seriously porked out (and this is definitely beyond the cute pregnancy weight, this is like super chubby face weight) in the last couple of months before Evren was born. I mean... big time. At the time I had no idea... I knew had gained a bit "too much" weight, but I didn't notice it then. So, upon seeing these photos, my thoughts, in order:

1. Wow I got fat!!
2. Friends and loved ones: why didn't anyone tell me that I was turning into such a fattie?!?
3. I guess you were probably afraid I would get mad and eat you.
4. From the look of it, you were right.




"I must feed my baby belly!!"

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Sugar-Free Birthday Cake!

So, here is how we made this tasty cake for our wee one on his first birthday:
Cake:
2c. Flour
2/3 c mashed banana
1/2 c softened butter
3/4 c water
1tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix banana and butter until good and creamy. Add water. In another bowl, beat the eggs until very foamy, then add to the banana mixture. Then slowly beat in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Bake for about 20 min or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Sugar-free icing:
8 oz cream cheese
Mashed banana and berries to taste (this is the only sweetness, but turns out pretty good!)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Set the cream cheese out so it gets to room temperature, then beat with a fork until whipped. Then add some mashed banana and berries (berries are fun for added color and the ultimate in birthday cake mess making!), we used blackberries.

Result  = yum!

One Year

So, I just spent the evening preparing Evren's sugar-free-ready-to-demolish-just-for-those-pictures birthday cake, and man was I feeling some serious emotions... Wasn't expecting to get hit so hard. What is it? Am I sad that the best year of my life has gone by so quickly? Am I so happy to see my little boy make it to this first milestone happy and healthy? Am I scared that the rest of the years we have together are just going to go faster and faster? And am I scared that I won't be able to shake off these feelings and live in the moment, that the precious few moments that we have will be filled by my flood of "oh no, this is going too fast!"? Yep. Brain vs. heart is a tricky thing. My brain knows that I just need to be present, and just be cool with it all, but my heart is, well, see above. Sheesh. Being a mom is so the hardest thing I've ever done and totally the best. How do you deal with these feelings?  P.S. recipe and photos of above mentioned sugar-free cake (with tasty icing) will be coming soon, hopefully accompanied by hilarious photos of baby-cake-face

Babies vs. Puppies: They are not the same, however...

So you know how often times, a couple that is getting serious will buy a puppy together, and say (or think) it's practice for babies down the road? "I know it's not the same, but..." you might hear them say. I am here to just come out and say it: it's basically the same (except not).









Babies (and toddlers) vs. Puppies/Dogs:
Both are utterly adorable
Both require socializing and play and each have parks dedicated to this specific purpose
Both get cranky/mean/destructive when bored
Mental stimulation is a necessity for either
Both need to be taught their name
Tone of voice used...
Both are often running off or getting into things they should not
Potty-training (I have actually had to clean up more baby poo spots from our carpet than dog poo, due to diaper blowouts!)
Treats: I have, in fact, thrown cereal puffs onto the floor to the baby in a hurry to try and derail an undesirable activity
When outside (for mobile babies), both will find the spot with the most dirt or mud or water (or any combo of those) and play only in that spot until they are sufficiently covered and wet
For a while, they both understand about the same number of words, a lot of them even the same words: come here, ball, food, play, outside...
Dogs toys and baby toys: almost indistinguishable from one another
Constantly underfoot
You can buy a "snack ball" for either a dog or a toddler, and they are pretty much the same product
The games played with a toddler are surprisingly similar or the same as the ones enjoyed with your dog: ball, chase/tag, hide and seek, etc.
When in your bed, they both experience a 300% increase in size (400% if asleep)









Addressing the dog or the baby?:
"What do you have in your mouth?"
"Can I have the toy?"
"Go get it!"
"Where's mommy/daddy?"
"Want to go outside and play?"
"Do you have to potty?"
"Oh my God, what is all over your face?!"
"Please don't roll in that, that's poop..."
"Noooo..."
"No!"

Now of course, there are many obvious differences, and they are not really the same...except that they kind of are. So practice away, you dog-owning-not-yet-baby-havers!


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Yum sticks! - aka Homemade Whole Wheat Teething Biscuits

So I made these not-quite-biscuit-not-quite-cookies (just called them yum sticks after a while) for my son and thought I'd share! He seems to like them,and the ingredients are very few.
So here's the scoop:
1c. Whole wheat flour
1c. Infant rice cereal
2 tsp. molasses (more if you want it sweeter, this recipe is not very sweet at all)
1 mashed banana
Ice water

Mix all but the water in a large bowl, then add the water last, a little bit at a time, until you get a nice doughy, not sticky consistency. Of it gets sticky, just add a bit more flour or cereal. I recommend rolling out with a rolling pin, then cutting into little sticks or shapes rather than try to shape with your hands, it's a little prettier... though both of my batches were not very pretty...






Bake about 8-10 min on 350, or until the edges start to brown a little.
These are based loosely on one of the recipes I found on this super great page with lots of tasty ideas: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/teethingbiscuits.htm

Use your own judgement on whether or not your wee one might be ready for these if you choose to make some. They are not quite as crunchy as say, the Earth's Best teething biscuits, but more just chewy. I think so long as they have a good handle on chewing bigger pieces before swallowing, you are set. My son is almost 12 months now, and probably wouldn't have given him these 1-2 months ago, but as we know, every baby is different!




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Gram's slippers

So, my fabulous Grandma used to make all of her kids and grand kids these amazing knitted slippers just about every year. Seeing as how she had 11 kids...well that makes a lot of slippers to keep up with, so I don't blame her for throwing in the towel eventually! However, the slippers were just so great, I decided I had to learn how to knit so I could eventually replicate them and carry on the tradition. I dissected one of my old slippers to figure it out, picked up some knitting needles and got down to it. This was about 2 weeks ago. I have successfully created a tiny version of these amazing slippers for my son, and am planning on starting on Mommy and Daddy's tonight :).



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The dimmer switch of babyhood

So, it felt like I blinked and he was gone. Like a switch was flipped and suddenly my little baby boy was transformed into the walking, climbing,
dirt-eating, stick-collecting, stick-poking (in fact, anything stick-and-dirt-related) little toddler. It was in fact not so much a switch flipped, but more like a dimmer switch that took about three weeks to dim completely. Over this period, a crazy transformation took place. He was so unpredictable, crazy needy and hurting from molars starting to come in, fine tuning the fine art of walking, then climbing, then running (complete with several bruises peppered daily across his tiny legs), never knowing what he wanted (up or down, food or milk or water or nothing, who knows?!) , then poof! The transformation was complete, and here before us at 11 months old was this little person who may as well have been saying, "Mother, Father, a pleasure to meet you. It would very much please me to go outside and have a nibble of everything I can find." Crazy stuff.


My baby does still make an appearance occasionally, like when he is asleep, or has hurt himself, but for the most part I am just trying to get to know this new guy. And probably, by the time I get to know him, someone new will once again have taken his place. Repeat the process.


I suppose I can share what I think is some kind of moral here.
It is very easy to get caught up in trying to do what is best for your baby. For me, it was spending a LOT of time googling...should I eat only organic while breastfeeding? Best ways to avoid food allergies...unsafe chemicals in cleaning supplies, greenest cleaning supplies...chemicals found in fire-retardant baby pajamas...on and on. At some point I did realize that a lot of this stuff can be common sense, that there is just too much to ever be on top of it all without losing my mind, and that I would not be World's worst mother if I was weak and had a soda or some French fries, or gave my baby a non-organic apple, even though apples are #1 on the dirty ldozen list! So at around 5-6 months, I put my baby textbooks away, stopped freaking out over the tiniest things and started doing my best to be present with my son as much as possible. This has been a very good thing, especially knowing now how fast it really does go...


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Here we go

So, I am doing this thing called blogging. Apparently I have finally convinced myself that I have enough awesome, wonderful, insightful, intelligent, creative, and hilarious thoughts that obviously the rest of the world will be enamoured with my brain and will be so eager to see what I have to say next. OR...I am simply enamoured with my own brain, and just venting my thoughts SOMEWHERE other than at my 11 month old son will content me and make me feel like I am doing something adult with my otherwise baby-filled days. Either way, here I go.

Because so much of my life revolves around this tiny person that I love so dearly, the chances are high that this blog will consist entirely of posts related to baby/toddler related things. These things may include but will not be limited to: hilarious anectdotes, clever ideas for fun and play, recipes for tasty munchies, how-to's for various kid-related DIY's, etc. Hopefully someone out there will have some interest in the things I end up posting. Time will tell.